從天上賜下的復興
絕望的人

經文
詩篇一四三1-12
1(大衛的詩。)耶和華啊,求你聽我的禱告,留心聽我的懇求,憑你的信實和公義應允我。
2求你不要審問僕人;因為在你面前,凡活著的人沒有一個是義的。
3原來仇敵逼迫我,將我打倒在地,使我住在幽暗之處,像死了許久的人一樣。
4所以,我的靈在我裡面發昏;我的心在我裡面悽慘。
5我追想古時之日,思想你的一切作為,默念你手的工作。
6我向你舉手;我的心渴想你,如乾旱之地盼雨一樣。(細拉)
7耶和華啊,求你速速應允我!我心神耗盡!不要向我掩面,免得我像那些下坑的人一樣。
8求你使我清晨得聽你慈愛之言,因我倚靠你;求你使我知道當行的路,因我的心仰望你。
9耶和華啊,求你救我脫離我的仇敵!我往你那裡藏身。
10求你指教我遵行你的旨意,因你是我的神。你的靈本為善;求你引我到平坦之地。
11耶和華啊,求你為你的名將我救活,憑你的公義,將我從患難中領出來,
12憑你的慈愛剪除我的仇敵,滅絕一切苦待我的人,因我是你的僕人。
信息分享
讓我們繼續來思想「復興禱告」的第六個特點──屬靈的絕望。二十世紀一位重要的神學家卡爾巴特(Karl Barth)曾經說過:「除非我們好像那些絕望的人那樣讀聖經,否則我們並沒有正確地閱讀聖經。」我認為他的意思是,除非我們懂得在屬靈上深深渴望神,否則我們不能體會聖經所描述的人物他們內心的渴求。
我在想,你讀今天的詩篇時,心裡有沒有感受到詩人的那種絕望?魯益思(C.S. Lewis)在評論這首詩篇的時候,說:「開始的十一節是在令人流淚的張力中寫成的。詩人明顯是在極度的絕望中。」當然,詩人在這裡祈求個人復興而不是國家復興,但我們所要掌握的原則是:絕望的禱告帶來有力和正面的結果。
請容許我再次向你提出一個問題:你對周圍的道德和屬靈情況有沒有感到絕望,以致你願意花幾天的時間來禱告和禁食呢?大部分人對禁食的想法的回應是:「唔,事情還沒有絕望到需要那麼做的地步!」有一句古老的話是這樣說的:「絕望的處境需要孤注一擲的措施。」我不知道你怎麼樣看世界的狀況,但我明顯感到事情已經到了絕望的地步。只有當世界的絕望與信徒內心那神聖的絕望相遇時,事情才會有轉機。
「絕望的處境需要孤注一擲的措施」
進深研究
賽五十五1-7;太五6;詩四十二1-2,六十三1
1. 神給口渴的人的應許是甚麼?
2. 大衛怎麼樣描述他對神的渴望?
祈禱
天父,求您使用今天的信息,讓我的靈有聖潔的絕望來俯伏在您腳前。我不能逃避也不想逃避,如果有必要的話求您使我絕望──絕望得願意為基督成為一個「傻瓜」。奉主耶穌的名祈求,阿們。
Heaven-Sent Revival
"Desperate men"

Bible reading:
Psalm 143:1-12
1 Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.
2 Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.
3 The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead.
4 So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.
5 I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.
6 I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.[a]
7 Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
11 For your name's sake, Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.
Message
We continue looking at the characteristic of spiritual desperation which, we have been saying, usually makes its presence known in all "revival praying". I believe it was Karl Barth who once said: "We do not read our Bibles aright until we read them like desperate men." He meant, I think, that until we become spiritually desperate ourselves we will not be able to recognise the desperation that flowed in the hearts of the men and women who are portrayed in the Scriptures.
I wonder, as you read the psalm that is before us today did you feel the desperation that is present in the heart of the psalmist? Commenting on this psalm, C.S. Lewis said: "The first eleven verses were written in a strain that brings tears to the eyes. He is obviously a desperate man." Of course, the psalmist here is praying for personal revival and not national revival, but the principle to get hold of is this: desperate praying brings powerful and positive results.
Permit me once again to ask you a personal question: Have you ever felt desperate enough about the moral and spiritual conditions around you to spend a few days praying and fasting? Most people's response to the idea of fasting is: "Well, things are not desperate enough to demand that!" There's an old saying that goes: "Desperate situations demand desperate measures," I don't know how you view the world situation, but it seems obvious to me that things are in a desperate state. And they will only change as the desperation in the world is met and countered by a holy desperation in the hearts of the men and women who constitute the Christian Church.
"Desperate situations demand desperate measures"
Prayer
O Father, use the facts that I have read today to drive me to Your feet in a spirit of holy desperation. I cannot escape them - nor do I want to. Make me desperate - desperate enough to be a "fool for Christ" if that is necessary. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Further study
Isaiah 55:1-7
Matthew 5:6P
salm 42:1-2; 63:1
1. What is promised to those who thirst?
2. How did David depict his longing for God?
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